A much-talked about project for Los Angeles’ transportation system recently got the go-ahead when the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors approved a contract worth $1.2 billion to Walsh/Shea Corridor Constructors to build the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor. The development is now in the utility relocation phase with heavy construction set to start with spring of next year. The project is one of 12 transit projects funded by Measure R, the half-cent sales tax approved by voters in Los Angeles County back in 2008.

A much-talked about project for Los Angeles’ transportation system recently got the go-ahead when the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors approved a contract worth $1.2 billion for Walsh/Shea Corridor Constructors to build the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor. The development is now in the utility relocation phase with heavy construction set to start in the spring of 2014. The project is one of 12 transit projects funded by Measure R, the half-cent sales tax approved by voters in Los Angeles County back in 2008.

Completion of the massive municipal development plan is currently scheduled for some time in 2019. The previous step forward taken in the slow development process was at the end of May when L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas and five co-signers committed $80 million to one of the line’s future stations, at Leimert Park.

Both that station and Hindry Station are included in the contract with Walsh/Shea. The contractor is a joint venture created by Walsh Construction and J.F. Shea Company, one of the four entities that submitted paperwork, applying for the contract. The JV received the technical score for the lowest price, and was therefore awarded the contract. Walsh/Shea has experience in this type of project, with work handled on the DART system in Dallas, and equivalent rail systems in Phoenix, Charlotte and Chicago.

The Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor Project will serve Crenshaw, Corridor, Inglewood, Westchester and the LAX area. According to public information issued by the MTA, a maintenance facility, park-ride lots, traction power substations and the acquisition of rail and maintenance equipment are also part of the designated budget. The new rail stations will be Expo/Crenshaw, Crenshaw/Martin Luther King, Crenshaw/Vernon (Leimert Park), Crenshaw/Slauson, Florence/West, Florence/La Brea, Florence/Hindry and Aviation/Century.